Kidney health is essential to our survival not only because the kidneys are continuously filtering and purifying our blood but also because they provide physical water to hydrate all of our organs and supply cooling energy to our brains.
In eastern and western medicine, the kidneys are considered the regulators of overall health and balance within the body. Because their physical health is just as important as their energetic health, we will explore the role of fear in connection to our kidneys and ways we can re-calibrate their energy to improve our mental, physical, energetic, and spiritual health.
Where are my kidneys?
Your kidneys are a pair of organs that sit on either side of your spine between the T12 vertebrae down to L3; the top half of each kidney is protected by the bottom of the ribcage, and the bottom half lies just below. They are behind your liver and stomach and sit right in front of, and next to, your spine.
They are deep red in color and are about the size of your fists. Your left kidney is positioned slightly higher than your right.
Why is kidney health so important?
The kidneys and their energy are closely related to your instincts, willpower, hormone production, fertility, and sexual and physical health. Kidney energy is called "Jing Qi."
The essential energy of Jing Qi in our kidneys is here to preserve life and to continue living. Not only does it govern the health of your teeth, hair, bones, and bone marrow (the foundation of our tissues and physical strength), but when your Jing Qi is transformed, it travels up your spine through your energy gates along your Governing/Conception vessels, and it becomes available to your entire being. This vital energy manifests as motherly nurturing energy, fatherly protective energy, and the willingness to serve life. Thus this energy is called your "essence."
The kidneys (yin) are paired with the bladder (yang). In contrast, the bladder. The bladder meridian governs your base instincts (your "fight or flight" mechanism) to survive the danger and life-threatening circumstances.
So when you have strong kidneys, your energy is soothing, nurturing, understanding, and loving—not only to yourself and your family but to all living beings.
When your kidney energy is depleted or imbalanced, it can affect the body in specific ways.
Heart palpitations
Increased blood pressure
Shortness of breath
Superficial, shallow breathing
Slow to recover from illness or injury
Digestive issues
Uncontrolled feelings of anxiety - panic attacks
No sex drive- not there
Aches and pains in the low back and back of the knees
Recurrent UTI
Irregular and painful menses
Fertility issues
Hearing loss
Ringing in the ears
What do kidneys and fear have to do with each other?
Maintaining optimal health is easy and natural when your "Jing Qi" energy is abundant. You are not holding fear around your health or the unknown future. And if there is an acute fearful situation, your bladder meridian will be affected, and you will have to go to the bathroom. And you can shake it off and return to normal.
However, if that fear lasts for a long time, orfearful situations happen frequently, or if you continuously think fearful thoughts, it will block and weaken the bladder meridian, and it will also weaken its Yin/Yang partner meridian, the Kidney meridian.
So, when stress at work, fear of providing for family, fear of health deteriorating, civil unrest, and countless other situations run through our minds sometimes incessantly, it affects our kidneys' health and their ability to filter out toxins in the blood and psyche. Mental fear and unhealthy thoughts are best addressed by opening our minds to the greater possibilities of life by connecting to life as our wise and resourced selves with access to wisdom and practical solutions to the issues at hand.
The antidote to fear is wisdom.
Practicing kidney-replenishing routines (like Dantien breathing and the fountain) support you in creating your healthy energy body that connects you to the universe and all your sources of power, so you are consciously living in a life-affirming universe unfolding with your highest potentials activated. Knowing you are supported by a universe bigger than you helps protect you and allows you to respond to events with present moment awareness and not simply react in fear. This present moment awareness and ability to appropriately respond to the situation is wisdom.
This practice cultivates the skills and ability to determine the distinction between being afraid and being in danger.
Let's remember that fear is essential to our survival. Instinctually we must trust ourselves to recognize how fear feels in our bodies. We must know how to perceive the situation accurately to determine what is fear and what is triggered by old thought patterns and beliefs vs. what is actually happening.
Having this skill is life saving, and when our base instincts are rooted in reality, we don't respond to the stress of too many emails, the phone ringing, and being stuck in traffic the same way as a house fire, an accident, or a real threat.
From there, two other beautiful things can happen. The first is that we can transform stress into peace in real time. And the other is we are better able to trust our intuition.
Instinct and intuition are distinct yet related. If our bodies' instincts are off, then, of course, our higher level of knowing will be off too! Intuition is a higher order of the mind built on a solid foundation of the body's instinct and survival ability.
How do you keep your kidneys healthy?
One way of keeping your kidneys healthy is with the Qigong practice of Kidney Breathing. Your Kidneys are protected in your body, making them difficult to feel and move. For this reason, it is crucial to move the body around them so that they get the stimulation they need to heal. Even jumping up and down won't move your kidneys. Kidney Breathing is one of the few exercises that actually move and massage the kidneys. It is very effective in strengthening and healing your kidneys because you are using your own abdomen muscles to move and massage your kidneys.
Keep a cool head and fire in your belly.
"Keep a cool head" is also related to healthy kidneys. When there is too much heat in your head, you are quick to emotional outbursts. And that also means that your belly is cold. You need heat and fire in your belly to help digest your food and metabolize and absorb the nutrients from your food. Kidney breathing, fire breathing, and Dantin breathing all support the process of cool kidney waters rising up to cool the brain. However, just like in nature, water doesn't rise until it gets hot enough to boil and steam. It is the same for the water energy in the kidneys. It can't rise until enough there energy is in the kidneys, and the fire in the belly is ignited and burning bright.
Other practices to support the kidneys:
Toe Tapping
Massaging the Kidneys
Rebounding-Shaking
The Fountain
When practiced regularly, these exercises can bring great relief to your kidneys and improve your health on every level.
There is so much more to be said about how important kidney health is, please read the related blogs to have an even fuller picture of how to transform fear into wisdom with qigong.
Would you like to start your day clear, energized, and with a light, joyful heart? Click here to get the 13 Minute Morning Qigong Practice for FREE!⬇️⬇️⬇️
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